Naked women to zipline for breast cancer and set Guinness record

Naked ziplining to raise money for breast cancer is becoming a tradition in the Canadian province of B.C. For the third year in a row women will zipline naked to fight cancer, and this time they'll also be making the Guinness Book of World Records.

ZipZone Adventure Park in the Okanagan is the host of the June 20 event and owner Kevin Bennett told the Welcome to Kelowna tourism website that in 2011, the first time the event was officially held, the number of participants was small and so was the money raised.

But it all caught on in 2012 when they had 84 women zipline and raised $16,000 for breast cancer. Bennett said that the important thing is that raising of funds, not the being naked part. “The ladies zip however they feel comfortable," he explains. "I’d say about 20% go naked, 60% go topless, and the other 20% wear pasties or something else.”

Last year some of the women wore body paint.

The event is closed to the public and only 2 male staff - both managers - are there working it. Only female ZipZone staff actually help the ziplining women into the gear and get them launched. Bennett said the equipment is fully professional, comfortable and safe. Participants will be ziplining 380 feet over Peachland’s Deep Creek Gorge

Breast cancer survivor: "I celebrate every year"

Among the participants last year was 74-year-old Helen Saunders, who lost a breast to cancer when she was 50. “I’ve lived 23 years longer than maybe I should have,” she told the Peachland News at the 2012 event. “I celebrate every year because it’s another year I’ve lived that maybe I wouldn’t have had.”

Saunders said at the time she'd do it again "in a heartbeat" so expect her to be one of the women whose numbers Bennett said will likely be double that of last year's figures. They've arranged with the Guinness Book of World Records to officially set a record for, as their promo says, the "highest number of naked zippers."

Among those already signed up for the event are the woman's SS Rodeo roller derby team and the well-known in B.C. breast cancer survivors’ Dragonboat team, who proudly proclaim themselves to be “33 ladies with 10 breasts between us." For the first time, this year the event is listed on the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation (CBCF) website under the banner 'Go Bare in the Air: Naked Ziplining'.

Each participant must be a female, be prepared to raise a minimum of $250 for the CBCF and be prepared to have fun. For more information you can contact Kevin Bennett at 1-250-808-7711, visit www.facebook.com/ZipZoneBC or go to the CBCF website.